The Art of Calm
A few years ago I started calling my work ‘The Art of Calm’.
There were two reasons. Working with ink needs me to be calm. The ink knows when I’m rushing, distracted, or disturbed. It reflects my tensions back to me.
The second reason is that working with ink makes me calm. There is an artisanal flow in the act of working with ink that soothes my system.
It’s a virtuous circle. I focus on entering a space of calm. I’m rewarded by entering deeper into my space of calm.
I had a heart attack some years ago, and have had continuing problems with blood pressure, I wear a continual Blood Pressure monitor which takes several readings an hour, day and night. I see on my daily results the times when I’m actually painting (unfortunately most of my time as an artist is NOT actually spent painting, but that’s another story…….). When I’m painting my blood pressure is lower.
After a life time of running from my own anxiety, this access to calm is a deep gift for which I’m very grateful.
One of the most common comments from visitors to my studio in The Courthouse, Bushmills, is that my space is very calming (and not only because of the solo Shakuhachi music often I play… 😊). Another virtuous circle. The calm that’s at the heart of my process encourages visitors to pause, consider, and access their own sense of calm.
This feels like an act of service in a distracted world.
Many people who buy my paintings (especially, but not only, ‘Monk’ pictures), write to me and talk of how those pictures become a small location of contemplation in their house, studio, office or (in one case) Doctor’s surgery.
The calm I experience, and see others experience, is not simple ‘relaxation’, though that is essential in this hyper-stressed world. It’s deeper. It’s the calm of coming home - home to our innate quiet sense of stillness, contemplation and creativity.
It’s deeply healthy. Sharing it through art - if someone chooses to grant me that privilege - is a joy.
#calm #mentalhealth #art #meditation #creativity